Programmable current exciter for measuring ac immittance of cells and batteries

ABSTRACT

An exciter of periodic square-wave current for measurement of complex ac impedance or admittance is described. A microcontroller/processor outputs two digital words that define upper and lower current levels. These words are latched and converted to analog voltages by D/A converter circuitry. A timing signal at the measurement frequency, also outputted by the microprocessor/controller, controls a multiplexer arranged to select either analog voltage. The multiplexer output thus toggles between the two programmed analog voltages at the measurement frequency.  
     By virtue of negative feedback, the toggled multiplexer output voltage equals the voltage developed across a resistance in series with the cell/battery. Two complementary transistors and a dc voltage source are arranged such that a positive multiplexer output directs a programmed current through this resistance in the “discharge” direction, and a negative multiplexer output directs a programmed current through it in the “charge” direction. Accordingly, the current through the cell/battery is a symmetrical square wave having frequency, amplitude, average value, and average flow direction completely under program control.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to electronically testing electrochemical cells and batteries. More specifically, it relates to method and apparatus for passing a programmably-determined periodic current through an electrochemical cell or battery to facilitate measurement of at least one component of its ac immittance (i.e., either ac impedance or ac admittance) at a specific frequency.

[0002] Electrochemical cells and batteries, such as primary cells/batteries, secondary (i.e., storage) cells/batteries, and fuel cells/batteries are important sources of electrical energy. As such, their complex impedance/admittance is of both theoretical and practical interest. Recent U.S. patents issued to Champlin disclose methods and apparatus for accurately measuring components of complex impedance (U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,238; U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,483) and complex admittance (U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,563) of cells/batteries at a specific frequency. A common feature of these inventions is that they all employ a periodic current—a current that need not be sinusoidal—to excite the cell/battery undergoing test.

[0003] Consider FIG. 1. This figure depicts immittance-measuring apparatus disclosed in the prior art U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,002,238, 6,172,483, and 6,262,563 and shows details of current excitation circuitry disclosed therein. Current exciter 5 comprises a series combination of load resistor 25 and controlled switch (i.e. transistor) 30 connected to cell/battery 10 through current-carrying contacts A and B. A symmetrical timing signal 70 outputted by microprocessor/controller 20 turns controlled switch 30 “on” and “off” at the measurement frequency f. Accordingly, a square-wave current −i(t) at frequency f flows through the cell/battery in the discharging direction as shown. (By convention, cell/battery current is assumed positive in the charging direction.) The peak to peak amplitude and average value of this generated square wave are |V_(B)/R_(L)| amps and −(V_(B)/2R_(L)) amps, respectively, where V_(B) is the cell/battery voltage and R_(L) is the load resistance. Current exciter 5 also outputs a signal voltage R_(L)i(t) 35 for processing by the remaining measurement circuitry. The function and operation of all other elements depicted in FIG. 1 have been fully explained in the referenced Champlin patents and will not be repeated herein.

[0004] One problem with this prior art current exciter is that the excitation current is inevitably a discharging current. There is, however, ample theoretical basis for believing that immittance measured with zero net current, or even with a net charging current, is equally important. Furthermore, the amplitude of the generated square-wave in this prior art circuit is fixed at a value determined by the cell/battery voltage and the resistance of the load resistor. This fixed amplitude may not be large enough to develop sufficient ac voltage across low-impedance cells/batteries for accurate measurement. Or, it may be so large that high-impedance cells/batteries are driven into nonlinearity. All of these objections to the method disclosed in the prior art are surmounted by the inventions disclosed herein.

[0005] The programmable current exciter disclosed herein bears some resemblance to the “flying bridge” circuit disclosed in FIG. 5 of PCT Application WO 99/18448. However, a careful comparison of the two inventions reveals very significant differences in the objectives, implementation and results achieved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The present invention comprises an exciter of periodic square-wave current for use in measuring one or more components of complex ac impedance or admittance of a cell or battery. A microcontroller/processor outputs two digital words that define upper and lower current levels. These words are latched and converted to analog voltages by D/A converter circuitry. A timing signal at the measurement frequency, also outputted by the microprocessor/controller, controls a multiplexer arranged to select either analog voltage. The multiplexer output thus toggles between the two programmed analog voltages at the measurement frequency.

[0007] By virtue of negative feedback, the toggled multiplexer output voltage equals the voltage developed across a resistance in series with the cell/battery. Two complementary transistors and a dc voltage source are arranged such that a positive multiplexer output directs a programmed current through this resistance in the “discharge” direction, and a negative multiplexer output directs a programmed current through it in the “charge” direction. Accordingly, the current through the cell/battery is a symmetrical square wave having frequency, amplitude, average value, and average flow direction completely under program control.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008]FIG. 1 depicts immittance-measuring apparatus disclosed in prior art U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,002,238, 6,172,483, and 6,262,563 and shows details of the current excitation circuitry disclosed therein.

[0009]FIG. 2 depicts the apparatus of FIG. 1 with its prior art current excitation circuitry replaced by current exciter 100 in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.

[0010]FIG. 3 is a schematic representation disclosing details of current exciter 100 of FIG. 2 in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.

[0011]FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of a portion of the circuit of FIG. 3 showing the path of current flow under conditions of positive control voltage in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.

[0012]FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of a portion of the circuit of FIG. 3 showing the path of current flow under conditions of negative control voltage in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.

[0013]FIG. 6 is graph of the timing signal as a function of time in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.

[0014]FIG. 7 is a graph of battery current i(t) as a function of time for particular values of I₀ and I₁ in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] Consider FIG. 2. This figure depicts the apparatus of FIG. 1 with its prior art current excitation circuitry replaced by current exciter 100 in accordance, with the present invention. In addition to communicating “Timing Signal” 70 to current exciter 100, microprocessor/controller 20 also communicates “I₀ & I₁ Data”, 110, as well as the two commands “Latch I₀ Level”, 120, and “Latch I₁ Level”, 130. The quantities I₀ and I₁ denote two programmable levels of a square-wave excitation current. Current exciter 100 also outputs a signal voltage R_(F)i(t) 140 for processing by the remaining measurement circuitry. All other elements depicted in FIG. 2 function and operate identically to those in the Champlin patents referenced above.

[0016]FIG. 3 discloses details of current exciter 100 of FIG. 2 in accordance with one aspect of the present invention. Digital “I₀ & I₁ Data” signal 110 is presented to the inputs of both latch 150 and latch 160. Upon assertion of a “Latch I₀ Level” command 120 by microprocessor/controller 20, a number proportional to the value of I₀ is stored in latch 150. Similarly, upon assertion of a “Latch I₁ Level” command 130 by microprocessor/controller 20, a number proportional to the value of I₁ is stored in latch 150. The digital values stored in latches 150 and 160 are presented to the inputs of D/A converters 170 and 180, respectively. Accordingly, the analog voltages at the outputs of D/A converters 170 and 180 have values V₀ and V₁, respectively, corresponding to current levels I₀ and I₁, respectively. Multiplexer 190, controlled by symmetrical “Timing Signal” 70, accepts analog voltages V₀ and V₁ as inputs. Accordingly, the output of multiplexer 190 is a symmetrical square-wave that oscillates between voltage levels V_(0 and V) ₁ at the measurement frequency f.

[0017] The output of multiplexer 190 connects to the-noninverting input of operational amplifier 200, and the inverting input of operational amplifier 200 connects to the left side of feedback resistor 210. Negative feedback requires the voltages at the inverting and noninverting inputs of operational amplifier 200 to be equal. Accordingly, the voltage at the left side of resistor 210 emulates the voltage applied to the noninverting input of operational amplifier 200 by multiplexer 190. This equality of voltages is accomplished through power supplied to resistor 210 by cell/battery 10 (having dc voltage V_(B)), auxiliary dc supply 220 (having dc voltage V_(S)>V_(B)), and complementary power mosfets Q1 and Q2. The functioning of these four power elements leading to voltage equality can be readily explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0018]FIG. 4 depicts conditions that prevail when the dc voltage applied to the noninverting input of operational amplifier 200 is a positive value, V⁺=V₀>0. A discharging (negative) current I₀=−(V₀/R_(F)) 230 flows out of the positive terminal of cell/battery 10 via contact A, through n-channel mosfet transistor Q1, returning to cell/battery 10 via resistor 210 and contact B.

[0019]FIG. 5 depicts conditions that prevail when the dc voltage applied to the noninverting input of operational amplifier 200 is a negative value, V⁺=V1<0. A charging (positive) current I₁=−(V₁/R_(F)) 240 flows out of the negative terminal of cell/battery 10 via contact B, through resistor 210, through p-channel mosfet transistor Q2, through auxiliary dc supply 220, returning to the positive terminal of cell/battery 10 via contact A. Note that V_(S) must be larger than V_(B) in order for this charging current to be viable.

[0020]FIG. 6 is graph of timing signal 70 as a function of time. One sees that timing signal 70 is a symmetrical square wave that oscillates between a logic “zero” and a logic “one” with period T=1/f, where f is the measurement frequency.

[0021]FIG. 7 is a graph of battery current i(t) (assumed positive in the charging direction) as a function of time under the assumption that a timing-signal logic “zero” results in I₀<0, and a timing-signal logic “one” results in I₁>0. One sees from FIG. 7 that the peak-to-peak current amplitude of i(t) is given by

I _(p−p) =|I ₁ −I ₀ |=|V ₁ −V ₀ |/R _(F) amps  (1)

[0022] and the average or dc value of i(t) is $\begin{matrix} {I_{A\quad V} = {\frac{I_{1} + I_{0}}{2} = {{- \left( \frac{V_{1} + V_{0}}{2R_{F}} \right)}\quad a\quad m\quad p\quad s}}} & (2) \end{matrix}$

[0023] In FIG. 7, I_(AV)<0 indicating a net “discharging” current. In general, however, the average current can be either positive, negative, or zero; corresponding to a net “charging” current, a net “discharging” current, or zero net (dc) current. Accordingly, the time-varying current through the cell/battery is a symmetrical square wave having frequency, amplitude, average value, and average flow direction completely under the programmed control of microprocessor/controller 20. This completes the disclosure of my invention.

[0024] Although the invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. For example, auxiliary dc supply 220 could encompass any source of dc power including a self-contained electrochemical battery, a solar battery, or a rectifier-type power supply connected to the ac mains. Transistors Q1 and Q2 could comprise complementary bipolar junction transistors as well as complementary mosfet transistors. Other periodic waveforms, such as sine waves and triangle waves, could be generated in place of square waves. Any immittance component or combination thereof could be measured including impedance magnitude, admittance magnitude, phase angle, resistance, reactance, conductance, or susceptance. These, and other, variations will be apparent to one skilled in the art and are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.

[0025] Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. Apparatus for passing a periodic time-varying current at a particular measurement frequency through an electrochemical cell or battery during measurement of at least one component of complex immittance comprising: an auxiliary dc power supply contacting a first terminal of said cell or battery and adapted to inject current into said cell or battery in the charging direction; a resistor contacting a second terminal of said cell or battery and adapted to conduct current through said cell or battery in either the charging direction or the discharging direction; a pair of complementary transistors connected in series across said dc power supply and arranged to conduct current through said resistor in either the charging direction or the discharging direction; an operational amplifier arranged to sense the voltage across said resistor and to control conduction of said complementary transistors in such manner as to cause the voltage drop across said resistor to emulate a control signal applied to an input of said operational amplifier; and, a signal source delivering a periodic control signal at said measurement frequency to said input of said operational amplifier.
 2. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said periodic control signal is a square-wave signal.
 3. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said periodic control signal is a sine wave signal.
 4. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said complementary transistors are complementary mosfet transistors.
 5. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said complementary transistors are complimentary bipolar junction transistors.
 6. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said auxiliary dc power supply is an electrochemical cell or battery.
 7. Apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said auxiliary dc power supply is a rectifier-type power supply connected to ac mains.
 8. Apparatus as in claim 2 wherein said square wave signal comprises the output voltage of a multiplexer that is toggled between first and second dc voltage levels by a timing signal at said measurement frequency.
 9. Apparatus as in claim 8 wherein said first and second dc voltage levels derive from analog to digital conversion of first and second latched digital words.
 10. Apparatus as in claim 8 wherein said timing signal is outputted by a microprocessor or microcontroller.
 11. Apparatus as in claim 9 wherein said first and second latched digital words are outputted by a microprocessor or microcontroller. 